Home for the Holidays
by Stelena-Beautiful
Summary: So it's almost March but any time is a good time for a Sonny/Emily Xmas story, right? Here's a one shot for all of you... Sonny gives Emily the best give ever - a place to belong. AR 2005.


**Couple:** Emily and Sonny

**Home for the Holidays**

Emily sat holed up at a corner table in the diner, wrapped up in a jacket and pair of mittens that were much too big for her. She watched as a thick curtain of snow fell just beyond the decorated windowpane. With only a few minutes to go until midnight and the arrival of Christmas in Port Charles, Kelly's was all but deserted. Only Mike Corbin was there. He was scrubbing down the counter as he pretended not to watch her curiously under his eyelashes.

She sighed and burrowed deeper into the jacket. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband's jacket actually. She had been married to him for all of five minutes before she'd realized that she had made a colossal mistake rushing into a marriage with someone she didn't really know anything about. The marriage had lasted about ten days until she realized that she had to flee. There was no other choice. She had grabbed the only jacket and mittens hanging in the hall closet in their loft in the city and she drove back to Port Charles in the middle of a raging storm. She was surprised she had made it here alive but somehow, she had.

She could have gone to her family's home but she couldn't bring herself to do that just yet. Other than Nikolas, Monica had been the biggest detractor of her impromptu elopement to a virtual stranger and Emily just really did not want to hear a lecture right now. She also could have gone to see her brother Jason but he was in the hospital, still – last she had heard – having no memory of anyone who had loved him, not even his own fiancée.

Emily sighed. She needed a friend. She_ wanted_ a friend. But she didn't know who to call. There were plenty of options but she was afraid to pick up her cell phone and exorcise those options. She didn't want anyone telling her that they had told her so; she already felt badly enough.

She felt Mike watching her still more and she sighed softly before turning to look at him. "Mike, I'm going to head out."

"Emily, no you can't. The roads are too slick."

"I've got chains on my tires…"

"Wait awhile, okay?" Mike said.

"Mike, I'll be fine. I promise."

"Emily, just wait here. For a few more minutes – until the storm passes," Mike said. "Please. Jason would never figure me if I let you back out into the storm. Neither would Sonny for that matter."

Emily's heart thudded painfully at the mention of Sonny. Right or wrong, she had been falling for the handsome, charming man when she'd met the guy who became her husband. At least half of the reason she had married him was to forget Sonny, forget what she believed that she could never have.

The two months she had spent living in Sonny's cottage, spending her days healing from all of her pain, she had felt so safe, protected and needed. She missed him. He was a major reason why she had returned to Port Charles. She wanted to see him so badly but tonight wouldn't work. It was officially Christmas now, according to her watch, and he'd either be wrapping presents for the kids or in bed by now.

"They'd understand," Emily said, finally finding her voice.

"I have an idea," Mike said. "Why don't you stay upstairs for the night? There's a room at the end of the hall that's vacant, room four. It's yours – rent-free."

"Mike, I appreciate that but I don't want or need charity. Really I don't."

"It's not charity and I insist." Mike tossed her a key and she caught it before it hit the floor. She shrugged.

"Thanks," she said softly. "You're a good friend, Mike."

"You've always been a good friend to me and especially to Sonny. I owe you a lot."

"You do not."

Mike smiled and rubbed his cheek. "Just head on up. Santa Claus can't come if you're awake."

Emily chuckled in spite of herself. "Good point. Thanks again and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Mike replied. Emily grabbed her purse and headed for the staircase. She took the steps two at a time and was soon at the room at the end of the hall.

She unlocked the door and went inside, flipping on the light. The bed with its thick quilt and fluffy pillows looked so inviting. She couldn't resist immediately climbing under the covers, shoes and all. She was asleep in mere minutes.

XoXoXo

Emily was awakened the next morning by the smell of pancakes frying on the griddle downstairs and the sound of Dean Martin crooning "I'll Be Home for Christmas" on the diner's stereo system.

Christmas morning had arrived. Her heart ached a bit at the thought.

She felt her stomach grumble and realized she was famished. She climbed out of bed and fixed her tangled hair a bit in the mirror before heading to the door of her room. She had just opened it and was stepping out when she noticed a small, brightly wrapped box sitting just beyond the threshold. She smiled a little as she thought that Mike must have put it there.

She reached down and picked it up. Her lithe fingers tore away the paper and she lifted the lid of the little box. Inside was a metal key on a chain. For a moment she didn't understand what exactly she was looking at. Then she peeled back the tissue paper some more and saw a little folded piece of paper nestled at the bottom. She hurriedly opened it and broke out into a smile even as fresh tears gathered in her eyes.

"_**Mike told me you were back in town," **_she read._** "I wanted you to have this key and know that anytime you need a place to stay, the cottage is yours. In my mind, it will always be yours. Sincerely, Sonny."**_

Emily grinned and slipped the key into the pocket of her denim jeans. She then hurriedly grabbed her purse and headed downstairs. Breakfast could wait. She was going home. Home, she realized, was wherever Sonny was. Sonny and his sons meant everything to her.

A tear rolled down her cheek when she spotted Mike. He gave her a thumbs up sign. She smiled at him, whispered a sincere "thank you", and then ran the rest of the way out the door to her car.

XoXoXo

Emily immediately hopped out of the car in front of the Greystone, leaving the keys still idling in the ignition. She practically sprinted up the front walk, nearly taking a header into the bushes in her haste to get where she needed to be.

She arrived at the cottage door and pushed it open. Her face lit up in a bright smile as she spotted Sonny sitting on the familiar leather sofa, bouncing Morgan on his knee while Michael played with a new train set. Emily and Sonny's eyes locked for an intense moment and she mouthed "thank you" before Michael spotted her. He shoved aside his train and ran for her, throwing his arms around her in a crushing embrace.

"Emily, you're home!" he said excitedly.

Emily kissed her nephew's forehead and nodded as she looked at Sonny. "You know what, Michael? Yes I am. I really am home."

Finis


End file.
